September 2021

52
Wanstead Village Directory
Cleaner & Greener
In the second of a series of articles providing an update on the Cleaner
Greener Wanstead initiative, Councillor Paul Donovan (Wanstead Village,
Labour) says it’s time to tackle the waste epidemic
The pandemic led to more rubbish
around Wanstead. Especially galling
has been the discarding of masks.
The aim of the mask is to stop the spread
of COVID – how does chucking it on the
ground do this? One of the aims of Cleaner
Greener Wanstead is to take greater
individual responsibility.
What is it that makes people believe they
are so entitled that simply putting rubbish in
the bin or taking it home is below them? No,
dump it on the ground for someone else to
pick up. At one point, Redbridge Council were
taking more litter off Christchurch Green than
Valentines Park. Note, the full-time worker
deployed simply to clear up after those who
cannot deal with their own rubbish. There is
also the monthly litter pick (third Saturday of
the month, meeting at 10am on Woodbine
Place), as well as ad hoc individual efforts.
Plastic is another particular problem. The
planet is simply getting clogged up with
plastic, being used and discarded on land and
in the sea. There are efforts to cut singleuse
plastic, as well as find alternatives, but
progress is slow. What is really needed to
address the problems of litter and plastic
(often one and the same) is to stop creating
the stuff in the first place. Recycling is good
and should be encouraged, but a step further
is to not create the rubbish to start with.
Cleaner Greener Wanstead sought to address
the joint problems of plastic waste and litter.
An early initiative was to try to get our High
Street shops to not use single plastic. One
Saturday, as part of a nationwide project,
activists took the plastic back to a number
of supermarkets, including the Co-op, Tesco
and M&S. The stores listened attentively and
promised to take the argument on board –
Litter pickers on
Christchurch Green
some progress is being made at a national
level, but what about here?
There is still a lot of single-use plastic on
Wanstead High Street – the thousands of
plastic lids on takeaway coffee cups spring
to mind. Wanstead Climate Action recently
conducted a survey of nine coffee shops,
with responses varying from “couldn’t care” to
“you won’t find plastic here”. La Bakerie, Bare
Brew and City Place Coffee came out on top,
offering discounts for those who bring their
own cups. Consumer power can bring change.
Supporting those shops doing the right thing
for the environment will help.
These have been difficult times with the
pandemic darkening all our lives over the
past 18 months. Some of the initiatives begun
pre-pandemic have stalled due to the crisis,
but now is the time to redouble our efforts.
We need to take real action to cut the amount
of waste being created, and when that is not
possible, deal responsibly with the residue.
There is only one planet and we all have a
responsibility to look after it.
For more information on the initiative, visit
cleanergreenerwanstead.org
To advertise, call 020 8819 6645 or visit wnstd.com